Trempealeau sewer utility rates to increase

Sewer utility rates for Trempealeau residents will increase by five percent next year following village board action last week.

The Trempealeau village board unanimously approved the increase at its meeting last Thursday, which takes effect Jan. 1.

Individual charges for sewer rates are different based on the size of a home’s sewer meter, but the increase is a flat five percent increase from the previous rate. Residents are charged monthly for the utility.

The bill for a one-inch meter, for example, will increase by $1.81 to $37.99 with the change. The unmetered sewer rate will increase payments $3.14 to a total charge of $65.81 per month.

Village Administrator/Finance Director Isaac Pooler said the village conducted a pricing study with 12 comparable communities last year, and they were in the middle of the pack.

“Even with this increase, we’re still going to be around the same,” Pooler said Thursday.

Other communities have had to replace entire wastewater plants in recent years, Village President Kurt Wood told the board. While Trempealeau has had to replace some equipment, they did not get hit as hard by phosphorus damages and other problems, so their fee reflects that.

“We’re fortunate we didn’t have to do a lot,” Wood said.